Ministry of Innovation —

1-800-GOOG-411 brings Google search to voice calls

Google has jumped into the 411 service pool with its new Google Voice Local …

Google has introduced the latest in its line of services designed to make it easier for us to find information we need—when not in front of a computer. The project, officially called Google Voice Local Search, is a free 411 service that users can call to request information on local businesses. The system is automated and uses voice recognition to determine what the caller is seeking.

Like most local 411 services, "Goog-411" (nicknamed after the service's phone number, 1-800-GOOG-411) offers users the ability to find businesses of nearly any ilk and even connects callers directly when they find the information they're looking for. Goog-411 also offers something that most 411 services do not: the ability to receive that information via text message to a mobile phone. Simply saying the words "text message" to the automated system after receiving query results will prompt the system to send the user an SMS with those same results. And again, it's all free aside from the typical charges associated with making local phone calls.

Unlike local 411 services, however, Goog-411 does not allow users to speak to a live operator to ask further questions about the businesses that they are searching for. This could serve as a sticking point for some older generations who aren't comfortable speaking to a robot and would prefer the help of a live human. But for most users, Goog-411 hopes to offer a comparable service to local 411 services, without the extra charges. And these days, even when you try to get a human on the line, sometimes you end up talking to a robot anyway.

Initial trials of Google's service yield decent results. The automated voice is very fluid and welcoming, and is capable of recognizing even the most casual speech from the user. It is not perfect, however, and reader reports have said that Goog-411 has some trouble understanding certain uncommon words and street names at times. Download Squad's Brad Linder has put up a recording of him using the service for those who don't want to call and try it for themselves.

Goog-411 competes directly with several other free 411 services, such as 1-800-Free-411 and AT&T's 1-800-YellowPages, but the popular Google name may help the service gain mindshare at a much faster rate than the others. Google says that the service is currently "experimental," and is only available in English for US users at this time.

Jacqui Cheng
Jacqui is an Editor at Large at Ars Technica, where she has spent the last eight years writing about Apple culture, gadgets, social networking, privacy, and more. Emailjacqui@arstechnica.com//Twitter@eJacqui